Pastor charged with ‘raping’ teenager during deliverance

A 40-year-old pastor, Abraham Akpan, was arraigned in an Ikeja magistrates’ court on Friday over the defilement of a teenager.

Akpan, a resident of 39, Hassan Ogunmola street in Ijaiye, a suburb of Lagos, was arraigned on a three-count charge bordering on rape.

Jimah Iseghede, the prosecutor, told the court that Akpan committed the offence between August 27 and August 29 at the his residence.

He told the court that the parents of the 16-year-old girl took her to the church for deliverance where Akpan allegedly defiled her.

“At the deliverance session, when nobody was there, the pastor raped the girl severally,” he said.

The prosecutor said the offence contravened Sections 135, 137 and 141 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

Akpan, however, pleaded not guilty to the offence.

Tajudeen Elias, chief magistrate, adjourned the case to September 21 for ruling on the bail application for Akpan.